JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Cabinet agreed to reduce the presence of the country’s military in the West Bank and limit its incursions into Palestinian areas 12 days after the kidnapping of three Israeli teens. The operation to locate and return the teens, called Operation Brother’s Keeper, now will focus moreContinue Reading
(JNS.org) A Jewish man from the Queens borough of New York City is selling a Christian mezuzah dubbed the Christooza. Henry Zabarsky has created a hollow cross made from plastic which, like a traditional mezuzah, contains a prayer-inscribed parchment and must be affixed to a door post. Zabarsky, a financialContinue Reading
(JTA) — An American dentist who said he is of Spanish-Jewish heritage is suing British Airways for flying him to Grenada rather than Granada. Edward Gamson and his partner believed they had first-class tickets to fly from London to Granada, in Spain, but once off the ground they discovered thatContinue Reading
Last Friday, June 22, the Presbyterian church announced its intentions to divest from companies that do business with Israel in the West Bank. Several Jewish organizations have spoken out against the divestment, and today in Netanyahu’s address to journalists from all over the Jewish world, he gave his own response to theContinue Reading
By Felice Friedson, The Media Line “Most Palestinians want the [kidnapped Israeli] kids to be alive and to be found,” says Dr. Nabil Kukali, the founder and president of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, in an exclusive interview. “This will help the Palestinian cause.” Dr. Kukali spoke with TheContinue Reading
By Edmon J. Rodman, JTA World News LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Part “God Bless America,” part “Shabbat Shalom,” the Fourth of July this year falls on a Friday. In this land of religious freedom, how do we plan to observe both? As the sun sets over the “fruited plain,” willContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent Jewish preschools in Seattle may feel the impact of a city-wide ballot measure this November that would approve and fund Mayor Ed Murray’s Seattle Preschool Plan — a four-year, $58 million education levy for a voluntary universal preschool curriculum and performance assessment model. PassedContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent The Associated Students of Western Washington University’s board of directors, in an unprecedented move for a U.S. college or university, proactively and unanimously voted in June to reject all boycott, divestment, and sanctions movements at the school, a policy Israel-advocacy groups have endorsed. AimedContinue Reading
(JTA) — Jewish groups predicted a rupture with Presbyterians in the wake of a close vote favoring divestment from three companies that deal with Israel’s security forces in the West Bank. The Presbyterian Church-USA biennial General Assembly approved the measure 310-303 late last Friday evening after hours of at timesContinue Reading
By Ben Sales, JTA World News TEL AVIV (JTA) — At 3:30 Shavuot morning, more than 100 people are seated on folding chairs singing in Yiddish as men walk around with shots of vodka and cups of coffee. Up front, a man in a black frock coat and black hatContinue Reading
By Sean Savage, JNS.org For most Westerners, Iraq is a foreboding and dangerous place that is filled with extremists and daily violence. Yet as little as 75 years ago Iraq was a vibrant country that was home to many different ethnic and religious minorities, including large Jewish and Christian populations.Continue Reading
By Boris Kurbanov, Special to the Jewish Sound Members of Seattle’s Jewish community gathered Wednesday, June 18 at the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island to express solidarity, love, and support for the three Israeli teenagers kidnapped in the West Bank on June 12. Jews around the world haveContinue Reading
TORONTO (JTA) — Canadians were evenly split in their support for Israel and the Palestinians, according to a new poll. The survey by the Toronto-based Forum Research found that 17 percent of respondents sided with Israel in the Middle East conflict, while 16 percent favored the Palestinians. Fully 64 percentContinue Reading
By Ben Sales, JTA World NewsTEL AVIV (JTA) — Since the three teenagers were abducted last week, Israel’s goals have been simple: Find them and punish their kidnappers.Realizing those goals, though, is far from a simple task.The international community has condemned the kidnappings, and Israel has spread its forces acrossContinue Reading
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Arab-Israeli Knesset member said the kidnappers of three Israeli teenagers are not terrorists.“They are people that cannot see any way to change their reality, and they are forced to use these means until Israeli society wises up a bit and sees and feels the suffering ofContinue Reading
By JNS.org As the days pass following the abduction of three Jewish teenagers near Hebron, the boys’ families are refusing to succumb to despair despite the uncertainty surrounding the situation. Hamas terrorists kidnapped Gilad Shaar, 16, Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Naftali Frenkel, 16, Thursday night while they were hitchhiking homeContinue Reading
As the World Cup begins its first week of intense competition, a group of Argentinian Jews are not just focusing on the soccer fields of Brazil, but on a greater mission. For Mariano Schlez, Maxi Klein and Damian Beker, the World Cup is the perfect opportunity to make a three-day, 1,700-mileContinue Reading
By Ben Sales, JTA World News TEL AVIV (JTA) — Blocks away from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the headquarters of two major banks, in the corner of the lobby of a boutique hotel, Nimrod Gruber sticks his hand into an ATM. A few seconds later, a QR codeContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, The Jewish Sound Henry Friedman had a message for the nearly 100 school-aged kids and their parents who sat in the shell of what will soon become the museum that bears his name: “It’s not for Holocaust survivors,” he said. “It’s for you.” The event, anContinue Reading
On Wednesday, the Associated Students of Western Washington University in Bellingham voted unanimously that it would not consider boycott and divestiture campaigns based upon national origin. According to a press release from Israel advocacy organization StandWithUs Northwest, “the 7-0 vote represents the first time ever that a North American university’s studentContinue Reading
